Human Events

Al-Qaeda Releases New Video Celebrating the Middle East Turmoil

Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Al-Zawahiri is excited about all of the chaos in the Middle East this year. The terror leader told his supporters in an onlline video today that the revolution in Egypt must include the destruction of Irael.

In a new, rare video message from al Qaeda’s number two terrorist commander, Ayman al-Zawahiri calls on Arab armies to intervene in Libya to help eject dictator Moammar Gadhafi before “Western aid… turns into invasions.”

The hour-plus long video posted online is the first since Egypt’s successful revolution and features the Osama bin Laden deputy in a white robe with the barrel of an assault rifle visible at his side. In addition to discussing the bloody fighting in Libya, al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian native, celebrates the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and says that the continuation of the North African nation depends on the destruction of Israel and the establishment of Islamic law.

Though al-Zawahiri has released audio messages in recent months, it is the first video appearance one of the world’s most wanted men has made in more than a year and half. The video also features a separate segment in which American-born radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a key leader of al Qaeda’s Yemen branch, shows his support for the revolutions while denouncing U.S. involvement in the Muslim world in general.